Interesting Aliexpress finds! - good deals, interesting stuff, new products etc!

[s3si1u]

tbh many of the cranks I see on Aliexpress would scare the crap out of me. They look like bad accidents waiting to happen.

[kbernstein]

Also, some people say that the big ones don't do 24 mm aluminium axle for a reason.

IIRC some manufacturers have now found an alloy/structure that allows 24mm to be sturdy enough but yes, they have a history of failure. On those cranks it's not the spindle that is the issue though. Seriously, I think the chinese could easily make the holy grail of cranksets with proven standards and configurations but I'm still waiting 

[jonathanf2]

Did you contact the seller to ask them about the torques?
They have an official store: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005401555576.html

The crankset look great.
Strange they call their 24 alloy shaft: hollowtech(24mm steel shaft) as well as GXP(24/22mm steel shaft, infamously squeezing the non drive bearings)

Is it a 3-bolt interface with the chainring, like SRAM cranks ?

I'm currently using three 24mm alloy spindle cranksets, two are carbon and one is hollowed alloy. The cranksets I'm using all use the 2 pinch bolt setup similar to Shimano, but like I said they use the smaller M5 bolts (4mm hex) that aren't as strong as M6 (5mm hex) bolts that Shimano uses. The cranksets I have all use direct mount/GXP (3 torx bolts) chainrings while using the hollow tech style non-drive side, so they're a hybrid of Shimano and SRAM.

I'm somewhat determined to figure out these AliEx cranksets. The weight savings, price and direct mount/GXP chainring options are quite attractive. Also these 24mm axles use 7075 alloy and mine came with a date/time stamp on the shafts. Even though my cranksets were ordered from different vendors, the axles appear to be the same design that probably came out of a single factory. So far I haven't had any issues, though I rotate the bikes I ride based on my mood and terrain I'm riding in.

Avoid! Avoid! Plenty of stories about these cranks failing on the forums and in TraceVelo's comments

A previous post on here was talking about a different Zeroing crankset mentioning the preload alloy bolt as a weak point. So I'm wondering what the deal is? If it's garbage, has it been addressed or is it possibly user error? Also I don't take everything Trace Velo says as absolute, his last bike build had the same crankset I'm using and he mentioned flex and other issues. Yet I'm not having any of those problems.

IIRC some manufacturers have now found an alloy/structure that allows 24mm to be sturdy enough but yes, they have a history of failure. On those cranks it's not the spindle that is the issue though. Seriously, I think the chinese could easily make the holy grail of cranksets with proven standards and configurations but I'm still waiting 

They're almost there. The Racework carbon crankset I'm using is pretty darn good. They could have just ditched the 7075 alloy shaft, used a steel axle gaining a minor weight penalty/increased durability and swapped the M5/4mm hex bolts for M6/5mm hex bolts on the non-drive side crank arm. Also I tend to like the flexibility of GXP/direct mount chainrings.

[Froglover825]

I'm currently using three 24mm alloy spindle cranksets, two are carbon and one is hollowed alloy. The cranksets I'm using all use the 2 pinch bolt setup similar to Shimano, but like I said they use the smaller M5 bolts (4mm hex) that aren't as strong as M6 (5mm hex) bolts that Shimano uses. The cranksets I have all use direct mount/GXP (3 torx bolts) chainrings while using the hollow tech style non-drive side, so they're a hybrid of Shimano and SRAM.

I'm somewhat determined to figure out these AliEx cranksets. The weight savings, price and direct mount/GXP chainring options are quite attractive. Also these 24mm axles use 7075 alloy and mine came with a date/time stamp on the shafts. Even though my cranksets were ordered from different vendors, the axles appear to be the same design that probably came out of a single factory. So far I haven't had any issues, though I rotate the bikes I ride based on my mood and terrain I'm riding in.

A previous post on here was talking about a different Zeroing crankset mentioning the preload alloy bolt as a weak point. So I'm wondering what the deal is? If it's garbage, has it been addressed or is it possibly user error? Also I don't take everything Trace Velo says as absolute, his last bike build had the same crankset I'm using and he mentioned flex and other issues. Yet I'm not having any of those problems.

They're almost there. The Racework carbon crankset I'm using is pretty darn good. They could have just ditched the 7075 alloy shaft, used a steel axle gaining a minor weight penalty/increased durability and swapped the M5/4mm hex bolts for M6/5mm hex bolts on the non-drive side crank arm. Also I tend to like the flexibility of GXP/direct mount chainrings.

From what I've seen is that lots of parts from aliexpress have no issues hitting the "lightweight" criteria, the issue is longevity of the parts.
It's very easy to cut material from a product when you haven't actually tested it to be safe.

[jonathanf2]

From what I've seen is that lots of parts from aliexpress have no issues hitting the "lightweight" criteria, the issue is longevity of the parts.
It's very easy to cut material from a product when you haven't actually tested it to be safe.

Yeah, but AliEx also has sturdy components like the Senicx cranksets that are very similar to Shimano with alloy forged and steel axles. Plus they have regular steel cassettes if you don't want to use the alloy/steel mixed cassettes. I see the lightweight parts on AliEx as go-fast/hotrod parts meant to match or even surpass the weights of higher end components at a lower cost. Shimano parts are just as disposable when it comes to weight cutting. Hambini made a big stink about the hollow bonded Ultegra and Dura-Ace cranksets breaking due to moisture corrosion. In fact all the current 12 speed Di2 cranksets are heavier now than previous 11 speed versions because of the flaws in their alloy bonding process.

[electrolux]

There are some decent discounts on Magene Power meters with Zrace cranksets. Could be worth a try at $285

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004272116963.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.6f9838dadiiAFW&mp=1

[kbernstein]

I would have for sure bought this crankset if subcompact cranks was available. I want 48-32 direct mount, powermeter and 165mm options. For aliexpress cranks, it's always pick 2 sadly 

[pecampbe]

I would have for sure bought this crankset if subcompact cranks was available. I want 48-32 direct mount, powermeter and 165mm options. For aliexpress cranks, it's always pick 2 sadly 

Same, I'm looking for a gravel gearing crankset and have no interest in the 50-34 or 53-39 cranksets.

[acedeuce802]

https://www.amazon.com/bikinGreen-Chainring-110mm-Bolts-Black/dp/B097H2Z4PP

I use these on my ZRACE crank with Sigeyi power meter.

[jonathanf2]

$6 titanium stem bolts on US Amazon right now. Cheaper than AliExpress at that price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R5T3R4B

[jonathanf2]

This seller has various brown carbon saddles if you're looking to color coordinate. I picked this up to match with my brown bar tape and hoods.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803582895190.html

[00Garza]

This seller has various brown carbon saddles if you're looking to color coordinate. I picked this up to match with my brown bar tape and hoods.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803582895190.html

Thought about getting one of these along with brown bar tape to match the tan wall tires. Will probably do so further down the road to mix it up a bit.

[Flying Trunk Monkey]

Gaaaaaah!!!
I ordered the axles mentioned below and they arrived today. The front axle on the Basswood is 15mm, not 12mm. Looks like the rest of the info for the front is good and the rear axle fits fine.

I'm guessing at least a couple of people might've followed the same route I did and are still waiting of their axles to arrive. Not a huge deal but with the standard delays from AliX it's a minor setback. I'm still waiting for a couple of other parts to arrive that were ordered later so my personal setback won't be entirely for a front axle.

Lucky for you I asked an unrelated question that got lost in translation so they sent me the axle dimensions instead... Which I didn't need but I guess it's an up to date spec lol.
https://i.imgur.com/lPfAjaD.png
https://i.imgur.com/8oiyFhJ.png

I think those are Carbonda's own that they updated because they did not use to specify a torque spec.

If you already have a frame and want a third party here you go:
https://aliexpress.com/item/4000493053597.html
The sizes are 12*171*m12 and 12*121*m12

I bought another version with handles and it's not worth it to me. I put my axles with handles for sale and will be upgrading to those when they sell.

[jonathanf2]

Thought about getting one of these along with brown bar tape to match the tan wall tires. Will probably do so further down the road to mix it up a bit.

I just went for 30 mile on this saddle. No issues at all. It's a few grams heavier than similar saddles from other AliEx sellers, but those extra grams go into the cushioning. Visually it looks really nice as well. It does go well with bikes with tan sidewalls which I currently have on my bike.

[coffeebreak]

Gaaaaaah!!!
I ordered the axles mentioned below and they arrived today. The front axle on the Basswood is 15mm, not 12mm. Looks like the rest of the info for the front is good and the rear axle fits fine.

I'm guessing at least a couple of people might've followed the same route I did and are still waiting of their axles to arrive. Not a huge deal but with the standard delays from AliX it's a minor setback. I'm still waiting for a couple of other parts to arrive that were ordered later so my personal setback won't be entirely for a front axle.

Yeah, it was disappointing because my wheelset was all ready to go - tubeless setup done, rotors mounted only to find out 12mm front won't fit :| I converted the fork into 12mm but the front axle is slightly short. It needs to be 126mm~ and not 121mm. Thankfully the kit came with its own axle so I am good. My build is done! Only other pain point was headset play. After numerous trial and error attempts, it seems to be fine. Not sure what the problem was, I got an FSA headset (42/52) and expander. Wasn't expecting headset issue on externally routed frame, but there it is.